Newquay is coming back to life

Newquay is starting to wake up and come out of winter hibernation. Easter is early this year, which brings the start of the season forward. People who went away for the winter are starting to trickle back. The main pubs and bars are getting livelier. On a sunny weekend with decent surf, there are more […]

Best advice of 2007

Whether you make New Year’s resolutions or not, there can’t be many people out there who don’t use the start of a new year as an opportunity to start a new project, kick an old habit or re-evaluate their goals. I’ve trawled through Drop Out Diaries and picked out the best tips since my adventure […]

True signs of success

In this life, there is a lot of pressure to show socially-acceptable signs of success: high income, high powered job,  big house and car, being constantly in demand, always on the phone and so on.
If your life doesn’t look like that, it is easy to be a bit defensive about it in a social situation. […]

Interview #4: Caroline

This is the fourth in a series of interviews with people who have successfully ‘dropped out’ of the rat race.
Name: Caroline
Age: 30
Caroline met the love of her life while on holiday in Turkey and left behind her life in London to live with him in a small Turkish town.
Caroline is now a full-time mum […]

Interview #3: Colin

This is the third in a series of interviews with people who have successfully ‘dropped out’ of the rat race.
Name: Colin Bell
Age: 58
Colin gave up the fast-paced life of a TV producer to fulfil his long-held ambition of being a writer. With the kids grown up, Colin and his wife now live in […]

Interview #2: Rachael

This is the second in a series of interviews with people who have successfully ‘dropped out’ of the rat race.
Name: Rachael Byrnes
Age: 28
Rachael gave up her job with an environmental NGO to concentrate on her creative life as a singer-songwriter. Music is now her primary occupation.

She lives in Melbourne, Australia and has a blog […]

Interview #1: Zoë

This is the first in a series of interviews with people who have successfully ‘dropped out’ of the rat race. I’m always inspired by other people’s stories and keen to learn how they achieved their dream. I hope you find these stories as interesting and motivational as I did!Name: Zoë
Age: 30
Zoe gave up her job […]

The Facebook status update

Down here in the wilds of Cornwall (well, Newquay…) where I hardly know anyone - not well enough to suggest going to the pub on a Tuesday evening for no particular reason - I rely on social networks such as Facebook and forum sites to keep me in touch with friends and family. My mum’s […]

What dropping out means today

I began writing this article with the aim of explaining what I mean by dropping out. In essence, I am talking about dropping out of the rat race, out of the nine-to-five wage slavery toil. But there’s much more to it than just giving up a high-flying city job in favour of a place in […]

Drop out music - my top ten

This is my selection of ‘drop out’ music - clever, funky, chilled-out, off-beat sounds. These ten artists are superb musicians, first and foremost. But they also have a real grip on the fundamentals of life, what’s important, what’s really worth thinking about. Below is a link to my favourite albums and if you scroll down […]

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